HONG KONG (Reuters) – Apple unveiled 39,000 gaming apps at its China store on Thursday, the largest removal ever in a single day, as it set year-end as a deadline for all game publishers to get a license.
The removal comes amid a crackdown on unlicensed games by Chinese authorities.
The 39,000 games included, Apple removed more than 46,000 apps in total from its store on Thursday. According to research firm Qimai, the Ubisoft title Assassin’s Creed Identity and NBA 2K20 fell under the games.
Qimai also said that only 74 of the top 1,500 paid games on the Apple Store survived the cleanup.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Apple initially gave game owners a deadline in late June to submit a government-issued license number that would allow users to make in-app purchases in the world’s largest gaming market.
Apple later extended the deadline to December 31.
China’s Android app stores have long complied with licensing regulations. It’s not clear why Apple is applying them more strictly this year.
Analysts said the move is no surprise, as Apple still has to close loopholes to fall in line with China’s content regulators, and that it will not have the same direct effect on Apple as previous removals.
‘This key pivot point in accepting only paid games with a game license, coupled with China’s extremely low number of foreign game licenses approved this year, is likely to lead more game developers to switch to an ad-supported model for their Chinese versions,’ Says Todd Kuhns, marketing manager of AppInChina, a firm that helps overseas companies distribute their applications.
Reporting by Pei Li; Edited by Alex Richardson